Korean Air's passengers drop after 'nut rage' incident

Korean Air, the nation’s leading flag carrier, saw its number of passengers decrease in December due to the negative image that followed the “nut rage” incident, industry data showed Sunday.

According to the data released by Incheon International Airport Corp. and Korea Airports Corp., the number of passengers who flew domestically with Korean Air last month totaled at 482,000 passengers, down 6.6 percent from a year earlier

The decline contrasted with a 13.2 percent increase for its rival Asiana Airlines, which transported 358,000 customers in the same period. The gap between the two largest airlines in terms of passengers narrowed from 158,000 to 76,000 over the past year.

This came amid an 11.5 percent year-on-year increase in the total number of passengers using domestic flights provided by seven carriers.

Industry experts attributed the bearish results of Korean Air to customers’ avoidance of its service in the wake of the incident.

On Dec. 5, news media reported that Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho, had conducted an unjust act abroad a Korean Air flight from New York to Seoul. This led her to resign from her position as a vice president for cabin service four days after a national uproar.

The plane had already been taxiing when she ordered the chief flight attendant to deplane over the way she was served macadamia nuts in an unopened pack instead of on a plate. She was indicted for jeopardizing flight safety and the incident has tarnished the airline company’s brand image significantly with some customers boycotting its service.

“It seems that there are not a few passengers opting for other airline services following the incident, given that there are many options available when it comes to domestic flights,” an industry expert said.

Korean Air also underperformed on international lines compared with other airliners.

The company transported 1.38 million passengers through its international flights last month, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier. This is less than the industry-wide 9.2 percent increase in the number of passengers traveling overseas, the data showed.

In particular, Asiana Airlines saw its number of international passengers increase 9 percent in the same period, basking in its rival’s setback. Smaller budget carriers also saw their international passengers jump across the board.

Korean Air said that there is no marked change in its booking ratio and that there is no relations between the number of passengers and the incident because most of tickets were booked months earlier.

It expected that flight bookings for February and March are about 5 percent higher compared to those of last year.